


Feels just like I'm under water and can barely breathe

by NatalieRyan



Series: Whumptober 2020 [13]
Category: MacGyver (TV 2016)
Genre: CPR, Day 13, Drowning, Gen, Mac Whump, Oxygen mask, Panic, Whump, Whumptober 2020, cuddling for warmth, emergency breathing, wet and shivery Mac
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-13
Updated: 2020-10-13
Packaged: 2021-03-07 20:54:59
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,567
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26993995
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/NatalieRyan/pseuds/NatalieRyan
Summary: I've been thinking about drowning Mac in a fic for a while now (way before Whumptober), and I have discussed the idea with both Sabby and Thistle. While Sabrina suggested several things at first, the ultimate suggestion that made it into this fic was Mac and Jack retrieving a flash drive from the houseboat of a target/possible suspect. I further discussed the idea with thistle, and she in turn suggested that I can have Mac and the suspect fight and both end up in the water. That in turn led to me having the suspect hold Mac underwater... I'm evil, oops.After that, it was easy to plan it, and to start writing. After which I hit a little snag, and it was thistle's repeated "yeet him into the water" that finally did the thing and Mac was indeed yeeted into the water. I couldn't stop there however, and because my brain works in overdrive, I wanted to have a reference to 1x07 and get Mac to breathe in through an oxygen mask... this is me we are talking about after all.Thank you SabbyStarlight for the help, and N1ghtshade for the encouraging words, beta and all around helping me with the Whumptober fics. And to my discord bunch that was cheering for me to do it back when I shared the idea in the early writing days :)Slight warning for Mac panicking in that one scene. Nothing too explicit, just it's there.I always feel like happy reading or enjoy aren't exactly appropriate for these stories considering I hurt my boys so much, so let's get on with the story.
Relationships: Jack Dalton & Angus MacGyver (MacGyver TV 2016)
Series: Whumptober 2020 [13]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1948579
Comments: 12
Kudos: 56
Collections: Whumptober 2020





	Feels just like I'm under water and can barely breathe

**Author's Note:**

  * For [N1ghtshade](https://archiveofourown.org/users/N1ghtshade/gifts).



> I've been thinking about drowning Mac in a fic for a while now (way before Whumptober), and I have discussed the idea with both Sabby and Thistle. While Sabrina suggested several things at first, the ultimate suggestion that made it into this fic was Mac and Jack retrieving a flash drive from the houseboat of a target/possible suspect. I further discussed the idea with thistle, and she in turn suggested that I can have Mac and the suspect fight and both end up in the water. That in turn led to me having the suspect hold Mac underwater... I'm evil, oops.   
> After that, it was easy to plan it, and to start writing. After which I hit a little snag, and it was thistle's repeated "yeet him into the water" that finally did the thing and Mac was indeed yeeted into the water. I couldn't stop there however, and because my brain works in overdrive, I wanted to have a reference to 1x07 and get Mac to breathe in through an oxygen mask... this is me we are talking about after all.  
> Thank you SabbyStarlight for the help, and N1ghtshade for the encouraging words, beta and all around helping me with the Whumptober fics. And to my discord bunch that was cheering for me to do it back when I shared the idea in the early writing days :)   
> Slight warning for Mac panicking in that one scene. Nothing too explicit, just it's there.   
> I always feel like happy reading or enjoy aren't exactly appropriate for these stories considering I hurt my boys so much, so let's get on with the story.

Jack was 100% sure that after this mission he'd ask Matty to build a program to recognize a potential risk from a trip to their current target's houseboat. They were sent to retrieve a flash drive from the boat where their guy of the week lived for two years after he sold the house he lived in before that, and all his assets and property; and it was already sketchy as it was. Mac was restless on the seat next to him and Jack reached into his pocket to pull out several paper clips. 

He offered them to Mac and Mac stopped fidgeting, clearly self conscious about what he was doing, but he accepted the paperclips and started twisting them into shapes. Jack didn't mind Mac fidgeting or bouncing his leg or whatever else he needed to ground himself, but Jack had a bad feeling about things and he needed to think.

Helmut Reinhardt was a renowned scientist that worked on secret DARPA projects before his self imposed retirement two years ago. He was one of their best researchers, and apparently before he left, he copied some of the top secret projects that were only in their developing phase. Similar to the super bullet several years ago that was created in the center in Hilo, Hawaii, there was an enhanced drug that was going to be used on people to enhance their short term memory instead of the long term one. And in the general idea, the drug could work for people to tell the police what they remember about a certain event. But in the hands of the wrong people, it could have been used to control them and to make them tell the bad guys their deeper secrets. 

It was a version of DMT that Jack learned Mac agreed to take so he could access his short term memory, after a concussion. It was several months after Jack came back home and Mac had a hard time explaining how he felt and in hindsight, he should have known not to agree, but Mac was everything if not stubborn so Jack figured out that whatever the outcome, Mac would have agreed anyway. It was the way Mac was wired to do things. But the DMT was still not approved for testing, and Jack could tell why. 

So when Reinhardt stole the data on the research and completed it in a way that would make DMT very popular on the black market, the Phoenix was called in to put an end to Reinhardt's research and development. The guy was smart and knew his job. If he didn't plan to make money by selling the enhanced DMT to the highest bidder, he would have made a great asset for the Phoenix. 

With what little Jack was able to read on Reinhardt’s research and how the DMT became a complete product in his hands, it hit Jack that the medication had pretty severe side effects once injected in the bloodstream, and with what Mac said happened to him that one time, Jack didn't want to know how it felt to everyone that subjected to the trial. Speaking of trials, Reinhardt cut through the red tape to get a government issued clinical trial, and that was the reason why this mission was time sensitive. The source told Matty that the scientist kept his formula and the results from the research and trial on the flash drive that they were sent to retrieve. 

Jack parked the Phoenix issued sedan further than the Marina where Reinhardt's houseboat was anchored. He didn't want anyone to be alarmed by them arriving by car. 

They moved slowly and carefully until they reached the front of the boat. It wasn't as big as some of the other boats surrounding it, but it had a spacious cabin. The source also told them that the boat was going to be empty. Jack still did a cursory check, made him feel better about being there. 

"How shall we proceed?" Jack turned to Mac. 

“You can go and look for the flash drive and I'll give the boat another check.” 

Jack didn't like that idea. Things rarely ended well when they separated. But they could cover more ground each by themselves. And Jack trusted Mac despite wanting to keep his partner in bubble wrap and never let him go and face the cruelties of this world. 

“Okay. Come and meet me here once you finish sweeping the deck, alright?” 

“Yup. See ya' on the inside.”

Mac was a far cry from his earlier, fidgety self, and he disappeared out of sight with a spring in his step. 

_Kids of today_ , Jack shook his head and chuckled. 

Once Jack was inside the cabin he was met with the way the place looked. Fancy furniture, very tidy for a scientist, and something immediately started his spidey senses. They were tingling like crazy. Mac wasn't a scientist, officially, but he liked to geek out and his house was always looking like a bomb went off in it, pun intended. Granted, not every sciency and creative person decorated their personal space in the same manner, but there were some similarities Jack could see with every new person he met. And instead of disarray the place was in a perfect shape. 

Which could mean that either Reinhardt was the tidiest scientist ever or this wasn't the place where he modified the DMT. Which could also lead to another question. Did he already sell it? Or he was about to. 

Jack holstered his gun and moved slowly from room to room, thoroughly checking every nook and cranny, because he knew from past experiences that people had creative places to hide things in. Jack shuddered at the thought of his hand almost getting stuck below the sink in the kitchen of one of their suspects.

Jack got to what he assumed was the master bedroom which at the same time gave him a good look of the water. 

Jack was immersed in searching, but there was something that made him look up, a splash, and it was just in time to see two figures tumbling in the water. One of the people looked suspiciously like Mac, and Jack knew that whatever he was doing would wait. The kid was his first priority. 

…

Mac had a bad feeling about this mission. But Mac almost always had a bad feeling when Jack had one. And his partner didn't have to voice it for Mac to know. 

Mac knew better than to separate from Jack on missions, but he had an odd feeling about things. He had to check the boat for himself. 

Leaving Jack inside the cabin, Mac circled around on the back of the boat, and when he didn't find anything he moved to the front. Which was when he heard shuffling. It almost felt like steps, and if Mac wasn't sure that their suspect was somewhere else, Mac would swear it was the guy coming back home. 

There was more shuffling and Mac had only a split second to turn around and see who it was when the person lunged at him and Mac was slammed into the side of the boat and breathing suddenly became the necessity as air was driven out of his lungs. He tried to get on his feet, but the man, and Mac could clearly see that it was their suspect, picked him up and effortlessly slammed him again. 

Mac wanted to yell for help and prayed that Jack heard the commotion, or at least thought to check the deck himself. Mac knew how restless his partner was. 

And then he slipped and bonked his head on the edge of the boat and he was bodily pushed into the water. 

The hit to the head wasn't hard enough to draw blood, not that Mac would be able to feel it while being in the water, but it dazed him for a moment that was too long to regain his balance because his head was underwater. And when he tried to swim and get to the surface, something held him underwater. 

No, not something. _Someone_.

Mac started panicking. It was one thing to slip and fall in the water. But Reinhardt must have dived after him and was holding Mac underwater. Mac was wondering why the man returned and took the risk to go after them, but he had a hard time to get his mind to work when water was getting inside his lungs and he couldn't stop himself from inhaling and swallowing the liquid. 

It was too long since he was able to take a normal breath, and his lungs were burning. He could feel his strength waning. He tried to claw his way up to the strong grip Reinhardt had on him, but it was to no avail. 

Black spots started dancing in front of his eyes and they grew and grew until he blacked out. 

…

Jack ran like a bat out of hell when he saw the blond guy struggling against the man holding him down. 

He skidded to a halt when he got to the edge of the boat and saw the blond head disappear completely underwater and without a further thought Jack shrugged out of his jacket, and left it on the deck together with his phone and he dived in the water that despite the warm weather was cold. Jack didn't give a damn about that, he only had Mac in mind. 

The other guy wasn't in the water when Jack arrived, and logically, he knew that he should have looked, in case the guy hung around and waited to drown Jack as well. Thinking about getting to Mac trumped that thought and Jack could only hope that Mac was okay and would tell him who did this. 

Jack was careful not to hurt Mac when he towed him back to the boat, and once they were on the surface Jack took a deep breath and tried not to think about how Mac's lips were rapidly turning blue or that he was too still, _too pale_ against the deck. 

Jack used two fingers under Mac's chin to turn his head a bit backwards and supported his head, while he leaned in with his ear to listen for breaths while his eyes were trained to Mac's chest that wasn't moving. 

_Ten seconds._ He had ten seconds, and nothing happened.

While Mac's head was still pushed backwards, Jack breathed five emergency breaths into Mac. It was recommended to start with five breaths before CPR was started. 

Jack settled in, locked his hands on top of Mac's sternum and pushed. 

1, 2, 3, 4, 5… 10

_Again._

_And again._

After that there were two more emergency breaths. 

And thirty more compressions. 

On the second attempt, something against Jack's hands moved and Mac lurched violently, dislodging Jack's hands. Jack turned him to the side and held on as Mac spit mouthfuls of water and coughed until he couldn't anymore. Jack gently ran his hand over Mac's back in soothing circles until Mac stopped heaving. He was shivering and Jack decidedly did not think of the little golden retriever puppy he had back on the ranch when he was a kid. That when wet looked exactly like Mac did now. 

“Hey, hey, Mac. You are going to be okay. I got you out. Got you out. Breathe.” 

Mac tried to take a good breath, but there was a hitch on every intake and a rasp in his lungs Jack didn't like.

Suddenly, Jack remembered something else and he rushed to the cabin of the boat. He knew that he probably scared Mac with his sudden movement, but what he was going to do now was going to be equally as scary. 

He picked up the apnea mask he noticed on his way in and he rummaged around until he found wet wipes and tissues and cleaned the mask as much as he could. Jack couldn't be sure about other people's germs and if his kid was going to get some oxygen in him, Jack was going to make sure it was clean. 

Jack wasn't gone for more than two minutes, but his heart was still beating wildly. Thinking that Mac almost drowned… 

Jack shook his head. He wasn't gonna dwell on it too much, his priority was to get Mac to breathe easier. 

Mac looked at him, slowly tracing Jack's steps and movements. 

Jack helped Mac into a sitting position with his back against Jack's chest. Mac leaned towards Jack and Mac's cheek made contact with Jack's shoulder. 

Jack smiled. His partner was sometimes like a cat. 

“Mac, bud, you know as well as I that we need to get some oxygen into you, right?” 

Mac nodded, his eyes going to the mask in Jack's hands and Jack wanted nothing else to have a nasal cannula, but it wasn't possible for them to wait until a medical team arrived. 

Speaking of medical… Jack had to call Matty. But first: oxygen. 

“I'm sorry to have to do this to you, but you have to breathe through this mask until I call for help.”

Mac started shivering harder in Jack's embrace at the prospect of having to wear the mask. 

“No… please…” 

It was all that got out of Mac before he started coughing and the hacking coughs sounded like Mac was grating glass and made Jack feel uncomfortable. 

Mac was shaking uncontrollably and Jack almost caved in and let the mask drop, but he was determined. 

Mac was mumbling something incoherent and he was on the edge of hyperventilating. 

Jack wrapped his arms around Mac and held him tight. 

“Shh, you are going to be okay. You know how much I hate this and what it reminds you of. If I could be in your position instead, I would. But you have to breathe some oxygen, to get your stats elevated. Please.” 

Mac looked at Jack with pleading eyes, and Jack was reminded of that scene in Captain America The Winter Soldier when Steve said “Please don't make me do this” to Bucky. He damn felt like Steve in that moment. The last thing he wanted to do was to hurt Mac. 

“I can give you the mask. I'll turn it on and you can hold it? That way it's you who's in control. I don't want to hurt you, buddy.” 

Mac nodded and took the mask with trembling hands. He brought it to his face, slowly, until he covered his nose and mouth. Jack slowly turned it on and increased the oxygen percent. 

Jack released a breath of his own when he saw that Mac was breathing normally through the mask and that it didn't induce further flashbacks. The thought of someone hurting his kid so much that he had an adverse reaction to oxygen masks made Jack so angry at El Noche and Oversight who authorized that mission in the first place. He wanted to get even but one was a faceless person that was their boss and the other was in prison. 

Jack watched as Mac breathed in and breathed out, and gradually calmed down. But the shivering was still going strong and Jack had an idea. 

Before doing that he picked up his phone and called Matty to update her on their situation. She promised to send medical help and a backup to look for whoever attacked Mac, in the haste to help Mac, Jack forgot to ask him. 

“Matty is sending us help. We can wait inside, hm? What do you say? I can even look for some clothes and see if they can fit us? You need to get out of these clothes, bud.” 

Mac nodded weakly and Jack helped Mac to his feet before retrieving his jacket and leading his precious charge to the bedroom. 

Mac was pliant under his touch and it scared Jack a little, Mac always tried to at least brave on and not show how much he was hurting, but this time he was probably too wiped out. 

Jack settled him on the bed, and Mac dutifully sat as Jack rummaged in drawers and came up with several items of clothing that could fit them both. 

Jack carefully peeled off the sodden shirt and pants off of Mac together with Mac's underwear, boots and socks. Mac shivered even harder when his body became exposed to the air of the cabin that was cold. Jack toweled Mac dry, happy to find that by being tidy, Reinhardt kept a drawer full of clean towels in his bedroom as well. 

After that he helped Mac in the clothes, soft sweatpants and a navy blue hoodie that made Mac look like a teenager. Jack fished out a few blankets and after repeating the process of getting himself toweled dry and dressed, Jack wrapped Mac in a blanket and placed him under the covers where he joined him after he put his phone on the bedspread in case Matty called. 

Then he carefully resumed holding Mac in his embrace. The kid wasn't shivering as bad as earlier and Jack sighed in relief. He was glad he made the right decision with the warm clothes. All they had to do now was to wait for help and pray that Mac was going to be okay. Jack did what he could, everything else was out of his hands. 

After a while he noticed that Mac's touch was faltering, and when Jack moved him around to look at Mac, he noticed that Mac had his eyes closed. Jack didn't know what the protocol for dealing with drowning victims was past the CPR and getting them warm and oxygenated, but he didn't have the heart to wake Mac up from the obviously restless slumber he'd fallen into. 

Jack put his hand over Mac's where he held the mask, and helped it stay on Mac's face as he breathed evenly. 

…

Hours later, after they'd both been checked out by the doctor on shift in Medical and Mac was kept for observation and to keep an eye out for pneumonia, Jack was settled in a chair next to Mac's bed. His partner was asleep and there was a nasal cannula instead of an oxygen mask in place. Not that Mac wouldn't want to dislodge that as well, those things felt uncomfortable as it was, Jack couldn't blame Mac for it. But in Mac's case it was the less panic inducing method so they usually went with it, unless the situation required them to use an oxygen mask.

Jack was watching as Mac's chest rose and fell in an even rhythm, an occasional wheeze or rasp making itself known, but that was normal after what happened earlier. Jack counted his blessings, Mac was fine. 

He was ready to crash and sleep for twelve hours straight, but first he had to see Mac out of here. Then they could both rest. 

Mac stirred on the bed and he scrunched his face as he was coming towards wakefulness. Jack smiled at how adorable that was. Mac squinting and trying to adjust to the overhead light. Jack dimmed it, as he always did with it when Mac ended up in Medical and this time was no exception.

“Hey there, Sleeping Beauty. It's great to finally see you awake.” 

“Hey, Jack.” Mac rasped and smiled at Jack.

“How are you feelin'?” 

“Like I was waterboarded, but worse?” 

“Doc said they'll keep you overnight to ward off pneumonia. But you got lucky, kid. Any longer and it was gonna be more serious.”

“I'm sorry. I didn't know the bastard was gonna return on the boat and lunge at me.” 

Jack didn't know what Mac was talking about and he was starting to wonder if that lump on Mac's head was causing him to confuse things. 

“What bastard?”

“Reinhardt. He was on the boat. He was the one who. Tried to drown me.” 

Jack gasped and he suddenly felt more awake as he fished his phone out and fired off a message to Matty, telling her that the assailant had been identified. 

“So he waited.” 

“I'm not sure he was on the boat, but he definitely came from behind me. And he knew my name.” 

“What?”

“I know that it could be just my imagination, but while he held me down underwater, I heard MacGyver. How many MacGyvers do you know, Jack?” 

Jack took a deep breath and ran a hand over his tired face. Things just got more complicated. 

“Well, whatever it was that he knew, we'll figure it out. We'll find him. For now, you are safe with me. I'm not letting you out of my sight again, understand?”

Mac nodded in assent. 

They sat in silence and Jack thought Mac was asleep, but it turned out that his partner's brain always worked in overdrive. 

“Jack? Thanks… for earlier.”

“You know you should never thank me. It's literally my job.”

“I know, but still. You kept your cool. I kinda freaked out.” 

“Totally understandable. We are good.” 

“I'm glad you were there. I was so scared.” 

“I was scared too. I'm glad you are okay, hoss.” 

Mac smiled and reached a hand towards Jack. Jack accepted it and squeezed. They were safe. Jack could finally breathe with ease again. He smiled as Mac drifted off to sleep. 

**Author's Note:**

> Thoughts?


End file.
